Machine for drying and bagging frozen confections



Aug. 26, 1952 E TOMUSKO 2,608,329

I MACHINE FOR DRYING AND BAGGING FROZEN CONFECTIONS Filed June 4, 1948 3Sheets-Sheet l Allg. 26, 1952 E, TOMUSKO `2,608,329

MACHINE FOR DRYING AND BAGGING FROZEN CONFECTIONS IN VEN TOR.

w Ecfn/Ad ma sie E. TOMUSKO Aug. 26, 1952 MACHINE FOR DRYING AND BAGGINGFROZEN CONFECTIONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 4, 1948 6mm m x 5W rmilf@ ,gw

n Wm y@ Patented Aug. 26, 1952 MACHINE FOR DRYING AND BGGINGA I FROZENCONFECTION S Edward Tomusko, Cleveland, Ohio Application June 4, 1948,Serial No. 31,064

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a machine for drying and bagging frozenconfectionon sticks.

An object of the invention is the provision of a machine in which a belttrained on pulleys and equipped with clips has two parallel sectionsmoving in straight paths, sticks supplied with a frozen confectionfreshly coated with a chocolate con fection being carried along thestraight path by the clip until the belt curves around the pulley whencethe sticks are released automatically for descent into a hopper afterwhich the frozen confections fall into bags expanded by air pressure.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a machine for notonly drying chocolatecoated congealed confections mounted on sticks butfor placing the dried frozen confections in bags which are shiftedacross the path of the confections and which have been inflated byblasts of air, the freshly-coated confections being carried along ahorizontal path during the drying operation and discharged downwardlyatthe end of said path, said confections being directed into the open endsof the bags whichare shifted automatically and successively across thedownward path, the blasts of air being supplied by nozzles incommunication with apipe forming an air conduit and a support forithedrying apparatus.

This invention is best understood from a consideration of the followingdetailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings,nevertheless, it is to be understood that the invention is not conned tothe disclosure but is susceptible of such changes and modifications asshall denne no material departure from the salient features of theinvention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of my machine for drying andbagging chocolate-coated frozen confections.

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the machine.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the table showing a device forsupplying air to inflate bags for the reception of the `dry-coatedfrozen confections.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged View in elevation of a clip on a beltfor holding a stick attached to afrozen confection.

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken along the line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Figure Gis a transverse vertical section of the machine taken along theline 6 6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7'is a vertical section taken along the line 'I-.l of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a vertical section taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 6. i

Figure 9 is a top plan view of a bag dispenser. Figure 10 is a View inperspective of `a dispensing plate when certain types of bags are used.Figure 11 is a view in perspective ofalmodified `form of dispensingplate foranother type of bag.

Figure 12 is a rear Figure 11. A

Figure 13 is a view inperspective of the bag dispenser shown in Figure9.I i

Referring more particularly to the drawings', I5 designates a tablemountedV on legs I6. Verticali pipes I'I and Ila rise from the ends ofthe table with the upper ends thereof joined by a horizonn tal pipe I8disposed centrally andlongitudinally of said table. These 4pipesnot'only form a conduit for air but provide a support for drying appa-Aratus to be described presently. One vertical pipe Il extends downwardlythrough the table I5 and is connected toa blower casing I9 (Figure 3).

view ofthe plate shown in fan 20 mountedin" the casing is driven A'byfamotor 2| which together withthe fan and casing form a unit. The fanforms a common source for forcing airthrough the pipe Il; pipe I8 andnozzles, about to be described. Thelower end of pipe I'la is closed.Thus, in effect the pipe ISI` acts as amanifold. c

A pair of spaced pulleys 24 and 2-5 are secured to shafts 26 and 21,-respectively (Figure 2). The shafts have bearings 28 carried bythehorizontal pipe I8. A belt 30 is trained on the pulleys to provide twolong parallel sections 30a and Snc at each side of the table I 5.`VSpring clips 3| have one end (Figure 4) secured at 32 to the belt inspaced relation thereby providing a freeend between which and the outersurface of the belt, sticks 33` are inserted as the belt is operated. Afrozen confection 34 attached to and depending from the stick is dippedinto a4 pan 35 `containing a chocolate-coating for the confection. Thecoating dries when traveling along the straight paths as defined by theparallel sections of the belt. However, when the belt starts to movearound the curved surfaces of the pulleys 24 and 25, the free ends ofthe clips move outwardly from the belt and release the sticks for apurpose.i which will be described presently A bag dispenser includesahousing 4U which has a curved bottom 4I` and an open top closed by acover 42 having a handle 43a (Figuresl, 91 and 13). A Weight 43is'hingedly mounted at' 44 on the inner portion of the magazine 45 of`the dispenser. This weight has a projection 4li-` which presses againstthe usual closure ilaps 417 of bags 48 stored in the magazine. A portion49 of the weight presses against the lowerv ends of saidbags (Figure 6)where saidbags ride over the inner curved surface-of the bottom di ofthe magazine.

A plate t (Figure 10) of particular construction is substantiallyrectangular in shape ancl- 52 in a position for the lower end of thetongue El to contact the closure flaps (il of the bags t8.

The portion of the inner vertical face of maga- Y zine below the bottomedge 52 of the Vplate 53 is open to provide a discharge passage 5d forthe bags. The plate is employed for certain types of bags and the lowerfree end of the tongue 5i is substantially in line with the bottom edge`52 of the plate.

A modified form of plate is shown at 56 in Figures 11 and 12. In thisform which is employed for a different type of bag, the tongue 5! isformed integrally with the plate but the free end thereof extends'belowthe bottom edge 58 of the plate and rearwardly of said edge. n

A hopper @il (Figures 6 and 13) for receiving and guiding the frozenconfections which have been released from the clips 3l of the belt 3Eprojects inwardly'from the housing d `of the bag dispenser and has itsupper open end in vertical alignment with the point of releasek of saidcon-v fections. rlhe hopper hasan inclined outer wall Si opposite theplate 50.- vAn adjusting screwl is'threaded into a passage intheinclined wall so ythat the free endof said screw will engage a guideplatee?. which hasa hook 66 engaging over the upper edge of the inclinedwall Gi. The lower end of the :guide 63 is bent outwardly to provide-anoffset from which depends a vertical apron 65. Thelower free end of theapron terminatesin-V a horizontal plane passing through the lower endfofthe magazine. The apron is located in spaced relation with the opening 5in the front face of said magazine. It will be noted that the outerupper edge Si of eac'n bag when inflated will seat beneath the Voiset 65of the guide 63 while the closure flap lll-will bein contact with thetongue-5l Vof the plate 5%. Fingers t3 project inwardly frornthe sideedges of the apron St in embracing relation with the side edges of theinflated bag. A bracket 'i8 extending from the Vertical pipe isconnected to the-hopper Si)v for retaining said hopper in a position.

A pipe 'H isin communication with the herir zontal pipe i8 atveach endthereof and has a downwardly-turned portion 'lil formingk a nozzle forprojecting air into the-hcppers $5 and into the bag as., shown in Figure6. it will be noted that the air is directed particularly on tothetongue 5i. which forms with the plate iid a channel for concentratingthe air blast into theupper end of the bag.

As shown in Figure 6, the confectionsjinclosed in the bags drop onto thebottom 'i5 of av con-- tainer'ley supported by brackets "ll-which formthe side walls 'i8 of said container. rllhej rear wall 'i9 is'higherthan the-.side walls forf'a purpose which-will' be explainedl presently.Thevfront'of' the'V container opensv into an inclined receptacle 8c toreceiveV the bagged confections. The receptacle is supported bythe'brackets li.

Means is employed for forcing thepackage' confections from the containerit into the receptacle et (Figures l and 6l. Apresserjfoott ll issecured at the lower end thereof vto ai shaft" v82 mounted for.`rockingy movementinthe parallel brackets Y 4 1l. An arm t3 has one endrigid with the shaft 32 while the other end has pivoted connections witha link 8d. A lever 85 pivotally connected to the link is rockablymounted at its upper end on an axle 85 carried by each of the verticalpipes i?, The upper free end of each lever is in the form of a iinger Sewhich is curved around i `rocks in al slot .15ct in the bottom 'l5 ofthe con tainer i6.

The operation of my device is as follows:

An operator stands adjacent each end of the table but on opposite sidesthereof and in position where he may insert the sticks 3-3 on theconfections 34 between a clip 3l and the belt 36 after the confectionshave been dipped into a liquid coating in the container 35.V In otherwords the operator who stands adjacent the pulley V2t' applies thesticks to the clips 3i on the section Sa of the belt 3S while theoperator who is ad- .iacent thev pulley applies the sticks to the clipson the section 'Btc of said belt. One ofthe operators then moves thebelt'in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2. When the clipsreach the pulleys, the turning of the belt on said pulleys forces theclipscutwardly and the sticks and the attached confections are releasedso that Y they wil fall into the chutes til.

Since the motor 2l is operating the blower 2t air will be forced throughthe pipes Il and` i3 and air will-be discharged from the nozzlesZiFigure 6) into the chutes Eil and along the channels formed by thetongue 5l on the plates 56, thence into the upper end of the bag 48which is held in an operative position by the tongue 5l at the open endof the magazine (i5. The bags will be inflated successively and when theconfections are released they will drop into the inflated bags and carrysaid-.bags downwardly into the container i6 and rest on the bottom l5thereof. The presser foot 8l being inclined shifts the packagedcgnfection towards the open end ofthecontainer 'i f When the belt ismoved in the directionv indicated by arrow in Figure 2, the coatedconfections are carried along straight paths to the discharge ends whichare over the chutes Ell; The; freshly dipped coatings on the confectionswill have sufficient time to dry before being discharged from thestraight paths. Y

As the pulleys 2d and 25 are revolved-by the vbelt which is manuallyoperated by theattendants, the concentrically arranged cams 9| willengage periodically thefingers Elion theA upper ends of the leversthereby rocking said levers and the arms 83. The presser feet in eachcontainer 76 will move outwardly for forcing theV What I claim is:

1. In a machine for drying and bagging chocolate coated frozenconfections, a table, a horizontally disposed manifold positioned aboveand in parallel spaced relation with respect to said table and supportedby said table for containing air under pressure, a pair of horizontallydisposed pulleys arranged in longitudinal spaced alignment above andspaced from said manifold and each rotatable about a vertical axis, aplurality of cams arranged in circumferential spaced relation about theunder face of each of said pulleys, an endless belt trained over androtatable about said pulleys, a plurality of spring clips arrangedexteriorly of and in spaced relation about said belt and each cliphaving one end fixedly secured to said belt and having the other endfree and spaced from the adjacent portion of said belt for receiving astick carrying a chocolate coated frozen confection, the other end ofeach of said clips being adapted to move automatically outwardly of saidbelt upon initiation of the rotational movement of the contiguousportion of said belt about the adjacent pulley to thereby release thestick of the coated confection held therebetween, a vertically disposedbag dispenser provided with a discharge opening in a wall thereofarranged contiguous to each pulley and below said manifold and adaptedto support a plurality of upstanding abutting bags having the flapclosures facing upwardly and to successively feed said bags to saiddischarge opening, a hopper positioned adjacent the discharge openingwall of said dispenser and having its lower end in communication withthe discharge opening of said dispenser and having its upper endpositioned for receiving a stick of frozen confection upon release fromits holding clip, a pipe having one end connected to said manifold andhaving the other end directed into the upper end of said hopper forintroducing a stream of air against the discharge opening of saiddispenser and'into the ap closure end of the bag within said hopper tocause inflation of said bag, an upstanding container positioned belowand in alignment with the lower end of said hopper for receiving the bagcontaining a stick of frozen confection, said container including anupstanding rear wall and an open front wall and having a bottom providedwith a slot, a presser foot projecting upwardly through the slot in saidcontainer bottom and connected to said container for rocking movementtoward and away from the open front wall of said container` an inclinedreceptacle positioned below and in alignment with the open front wall ofsaid first container for receiving the bag containing a stick of frozenconfection, and means operatively connected to said presser foot andengaging one cam at a time in successive order upon rotational movementof the latter for effecting the movement of said presser foot toward theopen front wall of said rst container to thereby discharge the bagcontaining the frozen confection into said second container,

2. In a machine for drying and bagging chocolate coated frozenconfections, a table, a horizontally disposed manifold positioned aboveand in parallel spaced relation with respect to said table and supportedby said table for containing air under pressure, a pair of horizontallydisposed pulleys arranged in longitudinal spaced alignment above andspaced from said manifold and each rotatable about a vertical axis, aplurality of cams arranged in circumferential spaced relation about theunder face of each of said pulleys, an endless belt trained over androtatable about said pulleys, a plurality of spring clips arrangedexteriorly of and in spaced relation about said belt and each cliphaving one end xedly secured to said belt and having the other end freeand spaced from the adjacent portion of said belt for receiving a stickcarrying a chocolate coated frozen confection, the other end of each ofsaid clips being adapted to move automatically outwardly of said beltupon initiation of the rotational movement of the contiguous portion ofsaid belt about the adjacent pulley to thereby release the stick of thecoated confection held therebetween, a vertically disposed bag dispenserprovided with a discharge opening in a wall thereof arranged contiguousto each pulley and below said manifold and adapted to support aplurality of upstanding abutting bags having the flap closures facingupwardly and to successively feed said bags to said discharge opening, ahopper positioned adjacent the discharge opening wall of said dispenserand having its lower end in communication with the discharge opening ofsaid dispenser and having its upper end positioned for receiving a stickof frozen confection upon release from its holding clip, a pipe havingone end connected to said manifold and having the other end directedinto the upper end of' said hopper for introducing a stream of airagainst the discharge opening of said dispenser and into the ap closureend of the bag within said hopper to cause inflation of said bag, anupstanding container positioned below and in alignment with the lowerend of the hopper for receiving the bag containing a stick of frozenconfection, said container including an upstanding rear wall and an openfront wall and having a bottom provided with a slot, a presser footprojecting upwardly through the slot in said container bottom andconnected to said container for rocking movement toward and away fromthe open front wall of said container, an inclined receptacle positionedbelow and in alignment with the open front wall of said first containerfor receiving the bag containing a stick of frozen confection, anupstanding lever pivotally connected intermediate its ends to saidmanifold and having the lower end operatively connected to the lower endof said presser foot, and a nger on the upper end of said lever andengaging one cam at a time in successive order upon rotational movementof the latter for effecting the movement of said presser foot toward theopen front wall of said first container to thereby discharge the bagcontaining the frozen confection into said second container.

EDWARD TOMUSKO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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